Application to Maison de Portes
Jul. 8th, 2000 11:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
inquisitoraCharacter: Callo Melrose
Canon: Vagrant Story
Version: Video Game
Canon Point: Pre-epilogue
Age: 23
Gender: Female
History: http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Callo_Merlose
Personality:
She's straightforward in her dealings with people; the way she presents herself to most is an efficient and competent young woman, with her mind fixed on her work rather than other distractions. For her, being an Inquisitor is more a calling than a job. She is also very grounded and firm in her sense of self; she knows who she is, she knows her capabilities and weaknesses, and the thought that someone might take that from her is a terrifying one.
However, she isn't emotionless; she cares for those around her, even her enemies. She shows empathy for their suffering, and though she doesn't jump head first into their cause, she defends and offers comfort to those who need it – when she pushes Hardin for information, she isn't cruel, and is sensitive with the information she learns of his dead brother.
She has a calm, practical mindset; she's used to crime scenes, and messy carnage. As someone working cult and religious criminal cases, it's likely she's seen sacrifices and dealt with corpses in grotesque positions. In canon, she doesn't so much as flinch at the sight of two dead soldiers, instead crouching by them to search for what clues she can glean from their bodies. She's focused and efficient, doing what needs to be done to get her information.
She's not used to 'live' scenes; fighting and chasing isn't her forte. She usually comes into a crime scene after it's been cleared, and while it's likely to be horrific, she never sees the deeds taking place. She has some naivete from this, where she relies on what she's been taught and learnt from books rather than actual experience. This will improve, as she spends more time in combat or dangerous situations and gains the experience she lacks. She's a quick learner.
She's very job focused, and doesn't have much of a life outside of it yet; she's friendly enough with people, but doesn't have any deeper connections to others. It's likely the VKP is responsible at least in part for that - they brainwashed Ashley rather than lose him as an agent, and less extreme methods were probably employed to keep agents loyal; 'encouraged' to be job-focused, as an agent distracted by home life is less useful than one completely concentrating on the job.
Even when kidnapped, she was calm and cooperative with her captors, taking a route that would keep her alive while also letting her gather information. She likely knew from previous experience that her survival chance was low unless she managed to gather some kind of sympathy from her captors, or was needed as a 'witness' to the cult's activities. Surviving the events at Leá Monde was a surprise to her, but not an unwelcome one.
She's in the stage where her trust in her government is faltering; she used to follow their rules willingly, but the more she sees of how they operate, the less she likes it. She knows that she's screwed herself over by being visibly smart and eager, and is in the process of doing some very careful damage control to make herself more 'invisible' again. She's smart enough to know she's being watched; and smart enough to know that THEY know she might know she's being watched by them.
Of all the cults and false religions she's investigated and dealt with, Sydney is the only one who's struck her as something more than a fake. Before coming to Leá Monde, she couldn't have said what it was about him that struck her as genuine; after, she knows it is because he was a true user of the Dark/arcane powers. She likely hopes to find somewhere to go, to escape, that is not the VKP; as a realist, she knows she cannot hide what she suspects from her employers forever. Until Sydney, she was counting down to her eventual death, because she would never bow to their will. He gave her a glimmer of hope that she would find a way out of the web she'd inadvertently caught herself in.
She pushes at Hardin, asking the man how he can trust in Sydney's words; even if he can grasp the truth and hold it in his hand, how can anyone know that he speaks it? The search for truth is important to her, and something that drives her as an Inquisitor. She knows in a crime scene there will be only one way that events played out. Evidence doesn't lie. People do. She watches and listens to how people act, tallying what she already knows with what she's now finding out, creating solid and reliable pictures in her mind.
Fears:
-Pregnancy. Does not want to become relegated to 'not a competent Inquisitor' any more because she had children. Gender inequality is present in her world, and she knows it would be all too easy to be side-lined into a role of mother. Also, she is heavily passionate about her work and wants to continue doing it. Children would be a setback; not only would she be expected to raise them, she would have to raise them to the VKP's standards. Any plans she might have for leaving would be curbed by the presence of children - though she doesn't want them, neither could she in good conscience leave them defenceless to whatever the VKP would use them for.
-Loss of independence, brainwashing. Some of the things she's encountered in her work have left her very wary of the VKP's true intentions and goals, and has woven a web of paranoia to keep herself safe. Part of her job as an Inquisitor is to find the truth – losing such an essential truth to her as her sense of self is terrifying, especially after realising the amount of brainwashing Ashley was put through.
-Lack of people to trust. Everyone around her has an agenda, or some angle on things; even if they're harmless, there could be somebody behind them pulling there strings. She has nobody but herself to rely on, and yet she knows she cannot improve anything on her own... which leads to;
-The future is a clusterfuck. She knows she can't remain neutral to the VKP forever – even if she manages to hide her emerging powers, nobody is perfect, and she WILL slip up at some point. All that remains is how soon, how bad, and how the VKP react – that is, if they haven't already decided to can her for being part of the Leá Monde catastrophe.
-To some extent, she fears being hunted for what she now is; a witch. She knows powers like hers are looked down on and feared in her world, said to be only used for evil.
Weaknesses:
-Is untested on combat in the field – has never been a fight where someone is trying to kill her, or anything more than a spar.
-Has some 'rookie' tendencies to get over – a lot of her work has been done in 'dead' crimescenes, or away from the perpetrators. She's used to having time to do her work, and doesn't have split-second reactions that someone gets form being out in the field regularly.
-Despite her proficiency with patterns of thought and profiling criminals, she's unused to forging friendships for herself. Her lack of trust means it's hard to open up to people, and without that genuine underpinning, most friendships fade away. Add to that the subtle encouragement to be work-focused, she has no close friends and nobody she would call a friend outside of work.
-Pursues information doggedly; this can sometimes get her in trouble when she oversteps lines. Once again this is because she's used to 'safe' interrogations due to her lack of field experience; overstep lines in interrogation, and nothing will happen to her. Do it in the field, as she discovered with Hardin, and more violent reactions occur.
-Is not trained in the use of magic, at all. This will trip her up when it comes to her own powers; she has no idea what will work and what won't. While she'll be able to figure some things out on her own, it'll be a slow process without a teacher.
Mundane Strengths/Abilities:
-Knows how people think and react; the psychology of why crimes are committed, and what likely motivators they had for these things.
-She has a Ph.D. in criminal psych, and one in religious terrorism; getting these at a young age shows she's highly motivated and determined. They provide backup for her profiling
-Extremely proficient at intelligence analysis, specifically cults and religious movements. Can look at information and draw patterns from it that others might not see.
-Has good knowledge of grappling and pinning moves, and some training with an edged weapon. Has never been in an actual fight in the field, however.
-Good with analysing crime scenes and corpses – likely causes of death, blood splatter, thought processes during a crime, etc.
(Her angle on detective work is more people-orientated than evidence-based, but she has a reasonable set of investigative skills gained while working cases.)
Sensitivity/Magical Ability:
Hi, have a mod-plaything. High-sensitive.
Callo is something known as a heart-seer, empathy combined with telepathy. When she talks to someone, she can see the thoughts that they don't say out loud. The effect is visual for her; she sees a ghostlike form of the person, who says the things they are not saying. This includes surface thoughts as well as deeper secrets. If their thoughts go near the topic in their mind, she can follow the trace to listen to the secret. It is possible to interrupt what she hears by interrupting your own thoughts. (Hardin manages this in canon by stabbing himself in the thigh, the pain causing him to stop thinking about what he wishes to keep secret.) It is also possible to hide your thoughts from her with shielding, magic, or use of the Dark to shroud your mind.
She has no training at all, and cannot control what she sees. Though she will not always see something, any desire from her to know the answer is tantamount to using her powers with the little control she has. She has a great amount of untapped power. Going to Leá Monde was like smashing the plug off a barrel in regards to her powers... only to discover the barrel was in fact a water reservoir. She's still in the stage where her powers are opening up; it's been less than one day since her powers activated in canon.
With more training, she should be able to;
-discern large from small thoughts, and follow them accordingly;
-listen only to parts of the thought/the answer she wishes to know;
-separate emotion from thought;
-tell whose thoughts/feelings she is hearing accurately;
-know when someone is nearby by the feel of their mind;
-sense emotions separately from thoughts;
-actually TURN THE DAMN SENSE OFF/stop listening to thoughts uncontrollably
Supply List:
Clothes; dress, tights, underwear, shoes, gloves
Pair of greaves
Pair of plate gloves
Pair of vanbraces
Small buckler
Game Transfers: n/a
Sample RP post:
She brings her hand to her nose to ward off the thick scent of blood. The faint scent of her skin does little good, so she lowers it again, taking in her surrounds. A butcher's shop of some kind, metal upon metal – extravagant. And worrying, to think of the kind of mind that has the riches to outfit a place like this all in metal and have it so used that the even when clean enough, the smell of blood pervades all like fresh corpses are on the tables. She wonders of the type of kills made here. Man, or beast?
The investigator's urge runs strong in her, though, and she does not leave immediately. She checks behind counters and cabinets, running her fingers lightly across likely surfaces to feel for hidden buttons. The locked door garners her attention, and she stands for some time with her head resting against it to listen to the noise coming from behind it, before moving away quietly. She does not wish to have anyone's attention so soon, especially if she is left here alone or brought unintended. Better to find what advantages she can, while she has a chance to.
She takes one of the knives from the block it rests in, testing the edge. As she holds it, she looks around, thinking. Could this be some scheme involving the Dark? She was taken from one spot and placed in another by Sydney, but she did not think there were more powerful practitioners around – and who would choose to take her, and not the boy Joshua, son of the Duke, or Hardin, who surely knew more of Leá Monde than her? She thinks of Ashley with worry. Anyone attempting to get at him would use her as bait – though she does not know how many still live in Leá Monde to know of the way he searched for her after she was kidnapped.
She slides the knife back where it came from. No reason to walk around with an edged blade yet, lest she come upon her hosts – and what good could a knife do against the Dark, except to make her seem like a threat?
Canon: Vagrant Story
Version: Video Game
Canon Point: Pre-epilogue
Age: 23
Gender: Female
History: http://finalfantasy.wikia.com/wiki/Callo_Merlose
Personality:
She's straightforward in her dealings with people; the way she presents herself to most is an efficient and competent young woman, with her mind fixed on her work rather than other distractions. For her, being an Inquisitor is more a calling than a job. She is also very grounded and firm in her sense of self; she knows who she is, she knows her capabilities and weaknesses, and the thought that someone might take that from her is a terrifying one.
However, she isn't emotionless; she cares for those around her, even her enemies. She shows empathy for their suffering, and though she doesn't jump head first into their cause, she defends and offers comfort to those who need it – when she pushes Hardin for information, she isn't cruel, and is sensitive with the information she learns of his dead brother.
She has a calm, practical mindset; she's used to crime scenes, and messy carnage. As someone working cult and religious criminal cases, it's likely she's seen sacrifices and dealt with corpses in grotesque positions. In canon, she doesn't so much as flinch at the sight of two dead soldiers, instead crouching by them to search for what clues she can glean from their bodies. She's focused and efficient, doing what needs to be done to get her information.
She's not used to 'live' scenes; fighting and chasing isn't her forte. She usually comes into a crime scene after it's been cleared, and while it's likely to be horrific, she never sees the deeds taking place. She has some naivete from this, where she relies on what she's been taught and learnt from books rather than actual experience. This will improve, as she spends more time in combat or dangerous situations and gains the experience she lacks. She's a quick learner.
She's very job focused, and doesn't have much of a life outside of it yet; she's friendly enough with people, but doesn't have any deeper connections to others. It's likely the VKP is responsible at least in part for that - they brainwashed Ashley rather than lose him as an agent, and less extreme methods were probably employed to keep agents loyal; 'encouraged' to be job-focused, as an agent distracted by home life is less useful than one completely concentrating on the job.
Even when kidnapped, she was calm and cooperative with her captors, taking a route that would keep her alive while also letting her gather information. She likely knew from previous experience that her survival chance was low unless she managed to gather some kind of sympathy from her captors, or was needed as a 'witness' to the cult's activities. Surviving the events at Leá Monde was a surprise to her, but not an unwelcome one.
She's in the stage where her trust in her government is faltering; she used to follow their rules willingly, but the more she sees of how they operate, the less she likes it. She knows that she's screwed herself over by being visibly smart and eager, and is in the process of doing some very careful damage control to make herself more 'invisible' again. She's smart enough to know she's being watched; and smart enough to know that THEY know she might know she's being watched by them.
Of all the cults and false religions she's investigated and dealt with, Sydney is the only one who's struck her as something more than a fake. Before coming to Leá Monde, she couldn't have said what it was about him that struck her as genuine; after, she knows it is because he was a true user of the Dark/arcane powers. She likely hopes to find somewhere to go, to escape, that is not the VKP; as a realist, she knows she cannot hide what she suspects from her employers forever. Until Sydney, she was counting down to her eventual death, because she would never bow to their will. He gave her a glimmer of hope that she would find a way out of the web she'd inadvertently caught herself in.
She pushes at Hardin, asking the man how he can trust in Sydney's words; even if he can grasp the truth and hold it in his hand, how can anyone know that he speaks it? The search for truth is important to her, and something that drives her as an Inquisitor. She knows in a crime scene there will be only one way that events played out. Evidence doesn't lie. People do. She watches and listens to how people act, tallying what she already knows with what she's now finding out, creating solid and reliable pictures in her mind.
Fears:
-Pregnancy. Does not want to become relegated to 'not a competent Inquisitor' any more because she had children. Gender inequality is present in her world, and she knows it would be all too easy to be side-lined into a role of mother. Also, she is heavily passionate about her work and wants to continue doing it. Children would be a setback; not only would she be expected to raise them, she would have to raise them to the VKP's standards. Any plans she might have for leaving would be curbed by the presence of children - though she doesn't want them, neither could she in good conscience leave them defenceless to whatever the VKP would use them for.
-Loss of independence, brainwashing. Some of the things she's encountered in her work have left her very wary of the VKP's true intentions and goals, and has woven a web of paranoia to keep herself safe. Part of her job as an Inquisitor is to find the truth – losing such an essential truth to her as her sense of self is terrifying, especially after realising the amount of brainwashing Ashley was put through.
-Lack of people to trust. Everyone around her has an agenda, or some angle on things; even if they're harmless, there could be somebody behind them pulling there strings. She has nobody but herself to rely on, and yet she knows she cannot improve anything on her own... which leads to;
-The future is a clusterfuck. She knows she can't remain neutral to the VKP forever – even if she manages to hide her emerging powers, nobody is perfect, and she WILL slip up at some point. All that remains is how soon, how bad, and how the VKP react – that is, if they haven't already decided to can her for being part of the Leá Monde catastrophe.
-To some extent, she fears being hunted for what she now is; a witch. She knows powers like hers are looked down on and feared in her world, said to be only used for evil.
Weaknesses:
-Is untested on combat in the field – has never been a fight where someone is trying to kill her, or anything more than a spar.
-Has some 'rookie' tendencies to get over – a lot of her work has been done in 'dead' crimescenes, or away from the perpetrators. She's used to having time to do her work, and doesn't have split-second reactions that someone gets form being out in the field regularly.
-Despite her proficiency with patterns of thought and profiling criminals, she's unused to forging friendships for herself. Her lack of trust means it's hard to open up to people, and without that genuine underpinning, most friendships fade away. Add to that the subtle encouragement to be work-focused, she has no close friends and nobody she would call a friend outside of work.
-Pursues information doggedly; this can sometimes get her in trouble when she oversteps lines. Once again this is because she's used to 'safe' interrogations due to her lack of field experience; overstep lines in interrogation, and nothing will happen to her. Do it in the field, as she discovered with Hardin, and more violent reactions occur.
-Is not trained in the use of magic, at all. This will trip her up when it comes to her own powers; she has no idea what will work and what won't. While she'll be able to figure some things out on her own, it'll be a slow process without a teacher.
Mundane Strengths/Abilities:
-Knows how people think and react; the psychology of why crimes are committed, and what likely motivators they had for these things.
-She has a Ph.D. in criminal psych, and one in religious terrorism; getting these at a young age shows she's highly motivated and determined. They provide backup for her profiling
-Extremely proficient at intelligence analysis, specifically cults and religious movements. Can look at information and draw patterns from it that others might not see.
-Has good knowledge of grappling and pinning moves, and some training with an edged weapon. Has never been in an actual fight in the field, however.
-Good with analysing crime scenes and corpses – likely causes of death, blood splatter, thought processes during a crime, etc.
(Her angle on detective work is more people-orientated than evidence-based, but she has a reasonable set of investigative skills gained while working cases.)
Sensitivity/Magical Ability:
Hi, have a mod-plaything. High-sensitive.
Callo is something known as a heart-seer, empathy combined with telepathy. When she talks to someone, she can see the thoughts that they don't say out loud. The effect is visual for her; she sees a ghostlike form of the person, who says the things they are not saying. This includes surface thoughts as well as deeper secrets. If their thoughts go near the topic in their mind, she can follow the trace to listen to the secret. It is possible to interrupt what she hears by interrupting your own thoughts. (Hardin manages this in canon by stabbing himself in the thigh, the pain causing him to stop thinking about what he wishes to keep secret.) It is also possible to hide your thoughts from her with shielding, magic, or use of the Dark to shroud your mind.
She has no training at all, and cannot control what she sees. Though she will not always see something, any desire from her to know the answer is tantamount to using her powers with the little control she has. She has a great amount of untapped power. Going to Leá Monde was like smashing the plug off a barrel in regards to her powers... only to discover the barrel was in fact a water reservoir. She's still in the stage where her powers are opening up; it's been less than one day since her powers activated in canon.
With more training, she should be able to;
-discern large from small thoughts, and follow them accordingly;
-listen only to parts of the thought/the answer she wishes to know;
-separate emotion from thought;
-tell whose thoughts/feelings she is hearing accurately;
-know when someone is nearby by the feel of their mind;
-sense emotions separately from thoughts;
-actually TURN THE DAMN SENSE OFF/stop listening to thoughts uncontrollably
Supply List:
Clothes; dress, tights, underwear, shoes, gloves
Pair of greaves
Pair of plate gloves
Pair of vanbraces
Small buckler
Game Transfers: n/a
Sample RP post:
She brings her hand to her nose to ward off the thick scent of blood. The faint scent of her skin does little good, so she lowers it again, taking in her surrounds. A butcher's shop of some kind, metal upon metal – extravagant. And worrying, to think of the kind of mind that has the riches to outfit a place like this all in metal and have it so used that the even when clean enough, the smell of blood pervades all like fresh corpses are on the tables. She wonders of the type of kills made here. Man, or beast?
The investigator's urge runs strong in her, though, and she does not leave immediately. She checks behind counters and cabinets, running her fingers lightly across likely surfaces to feel for hidden buttons. The locked door garners her attention, and she stands for some time with her head resting against it to listen to the noise coming from behind it, before moving away quietly. She does not wish to have anyone's attention so soon, especially if she is left here alone or brought unintended. Better to find what advantages she can, while she has a chance to.
She takes one of the knives from the block it rests in, testing the edge. As she holds it, she looks around, thinking. Could this be some scheme involving the Dark? She was taken from one spot and placed in another by Sydney, but she did not think there were more powerful practitioners around – and who would choose to take her, and not the boy Joshua, son of the Duke, or Hardin, who surely knew more of Leá Monde than her? She thinks of Ashley with worry. Anyone attempting to get at him would use her as bait – though she does not know how many still live in Leá Monde to know of the way he searched for her after she was kidnapped.
She slides the knife back where it came from. No reason to walk around with an edged blade yet, lest she come upon her hosts – and what good could a knife do against the Dark, except to make her seem like a threat?
